05 September 2012

Indian Spiced Eggplant with Peas

Yesterday was official "back to school day" or la rentrée here in France. I've blogged about this phenomenon before. For the past week or so people have been little by little coming back from August vacations and getting back to work routine. Businesses have been opening again, neighborhoods have been filling back up with Parisians and people have been getting together with friends they missed over the summer. Although I hit the ground running with last week's 14-hour-days full of theater rehearsals, this week marks a return to the usual routine: some babysitting, teaching a few theater classes and continuing rehearsals for this year's plays.

It's also back to making delicious food from whatever the CSA throws our way week to week. Recently, I got a bunch of eggplants, both the classic purple kind and the white kind - I can only assume this is how the veggie got its name because they actually do resemble eggs. I'm not a big fan of eggplant and neither is D. (Send your delicious recipes my way, please.) My usual response when I don't like a vegetable is to put Indian spices on it. I mean, I'll eat pretty much anything once you add cumin, turmeric and eggplant is no exception. I discovered this recipe four or five years ago on the blog Orangette and it's been my go-to eggplant recipe ever since! And to top it off, it has peas in it and I LOVE peas.

Preheat
the oven to 500° F (250ºC). Put the eggplants on in a baking dish, and
pierce them all over with a fork or knife. Bake for about 1 hour, or
until the skins are blackened and the eggplant is soft when
pressed. Set aside to cool slightly. Then slice open lengthwise, scrape the flesh from the skin and mash coarsely. (You can do this part a day or two ahead and refrigerate it.)

Heat the oil over
medium-high heat in a large frying pan. Add the cumin seeds (or ground cumin) and
cook until they begin to sizzle and pop, about 10 seconds. Add the
onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is soft and beginning
to brown, about 5-10 minutes. Add the jalapeño, garlic, ginger,
cayenne and curry leaves (if using) and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add
the tomatoes and cook until the liquid has evaporated,
about 10 minutes. Add the paprika and turmeric, and cook, stirring,
for another 2-3 minutes. Add the eggplant and peas and cook
over low heat for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the cilantro (if using), yogurt (or cream or coconut milk), and salt.

6 comments:

I admit, eggplant is not a favourite with me either and I never buy it. D did once in a while and if truth be known, I didn't really like it when he prepared it either! I have never seen white egg plants. How interesting.

Cicero - Actually, my D. does like eggplants. I was mistaken. I just assume since I'm the cook, what I don't like goes for everyone ;-) I'm not sure if the white eggplants have a different taste. They didn't seem to in this dish anyway.

Same here in Greece. Living in the countryside now and being a popular summer destination, suddenly everyone left on Sunday before the schools opened. I love eggplants but I must say that I would never have thought to pair eggplant with peas. Must try it soon.